Back
by dogluver99
Summary: Jack and Annie are older and they go to San Francisco when the earthquake happens. Read and find out! K cause i'm paranoid.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: hey guys, I know that the magic tree house isn't very mature, but I had the idea that I could take one of their books and make it where Jack and Annie are older. The tree house isn't a treehouse… I mean, how does that make sense? Why would a enchantress like Morgan make a tree house? Anyway, before I blab on the whole chapter, I'll get on with the story. Enjoy and review!**

**-1-**

**The tree house**

Annie sat up in bed and glanced at the clock: 4:34 AM.

"Ugg.." she groaned, and covered her eyes with her sheet to hide from the time. Annie didn't know why her body made her get up at this unearthly hour of the morning anyway. She shook her head at its nonsense and slid out of her silky baby blue sheets and pulled on her jeans. She pulled her PJ shirt up over her head, and tossed it somewhere into the abyss of room. Annie made her way to her closet, and dug around inside it. Triumphantly she held up her favorite light blue sweater. Annie brushed her wavy blonde hair out of her face, and poked her head out of the door. The door to her parent's room was closed, with no light coming from behind it. She groped for the light switch on the wall, then thought better of it, and navigated down the hall to the stairs. After tromping loudly down (in hopes of waking up Jack, then saying she didn't mean to), she escaped into the kitchen to fix herself some breakfast. While munching on her Cheerios, she thought about if she could possibly sneak into Jack's room and torment him by turning on his light while he was sleeping. She decided not to, because his room was such a junk heap that she probably couldn't get the door open.

"On the topic of rooms…" she muttered to herself. Annie stormed upstairs. Aha! Just as she suspected. The light to her room was on, and _she_ certainly hadn't turned it on. Jack knew very well that her rule was that no one, especially not himself, could come into her room unless they wanted to get a big surprise. Annie laughed and opened the door. Jack was standing in the middle of the room, covered head-to-toe with whipping cream. Annie burst out laughing. She stepped into the room, and promptly heard a loud beep. She cringed.

"Oh, no!" she groaned. The mechanical whipping cream cans directed themselves at her and the robotic arms beeped again. Whipping cream shot out of the cans and doused her. She licked her lips.

"Mmmm…" The white substance covering her was thick and creamy.

"Look, I can explain!" Jack protested.

"No time. You will do so later, but now, we have to go." Annie was barely keeping her face angry. She forced her mouth into a goofy frown to keep from laughing.

"But I haven't had breakfast yet!" Jack protested.

"Then you should've gotten up earlier." Annie had made up her mind, and she knew Jack knew arguing was pointless now. She pushed the screen door open, and raced across the road to the ravine entrance. She smiled at the sign, _Frog Creek Woods. _Jack and Annie hadn't before Annie had pulled him down the stone pathway.

"Let go!" He struggled to pull her hand off his arm. She laughed at his measly efforts then let go and jogged ahead of him.

"I know you're more athletic than me! You don't need rub it in," Jack called to her. It was true. Annie could see that Jack was already panting whereas she felt as if she could go a couple of miles. Annie veered off to the right and leaped effortlessly over the log that blocked her way into the forest. It felt good to be in the forest again. The tree's leaves were just opening and the birds high chirrups filled the fresh air. Annie glanced behind her and saw that Jack wasn't behind her anymore. He must've gotten tired and sat down, Annie thought. She navigated her way through the tall trees eagerly. She finally slowed down and looked up at the oak that was spreading out above her. A glowing bluish white orb was nestled in the top branches of the tree. She was so happy she almost laughed. Annie hadn't seen the tree house in years, but today she had felt sure it would be there. A little red bird settled in the branches a few feet away from her and chirped exuberantly. Annie spun around and darted back through the forest to get Jack. He was sitting with his back to the forest. His head was in head was in hands and he was breathing hard. She plunked down on the log next to him.

"You okay?" she asked gently.

"Yeah, yeah. Just give me a minute to rest."

"Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to tease you, I forgot how you are about it. It's just I haven't gone to the tree house for a while, and I wanted to get there quickly." Annie got up and pulled him to his feet. "It's there! I checked." Jack could see that she had been bursting to say that since she had seen him. He smiled.

"Well, come on! Let's go!" he grinned.

They leaped over the log Jack had previously been sitting on and raced through the forest, until they got to the tallest oak. It was at least 50 feet tall, and the tree house rested at about 45'. Annie nimbly leaped up onto the twisting lower branches and scampered up the tree until she reached the tree house. Of course, the orb wasn't actually a tree house, they just called it that. In reality, it was a glowing whitish orb, resting high in the tree. Annie shimmered and vanished, reappearing inside.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hello fellow readers! I decided that Jack and Annie should have magic while inside or using the tree house, so viola! Enjoy your next chapter!**

**-2- **

**San Francisco**

Annie shimmered into existence inside the orb. Books swirled around her, floating in midair, and slowly rotating around in the circular orb. To any normal person the tree house would look like a ball of bluish-white electricity. That is, if anyone could see it. Annie remembered when she had first seen the tree house. It had been an early Tuesday morning. Jack brought her out of her reverie by appearing beside her. She could hear his thoughts from her right. That was the cool thing about the tree house, other than the fact that things could fly. You could hear thoughts, or communicate with thoughts when you were in it, or in any place it took you. She heard a squeak, and saw her old sock swirling in the mass of books. A head poked out of it, and Annie grinned as she plucked her pet mouse Penny out of the air. Penny was a brown mouse with a little pink nose and big black whiskers. She petted Penny's head with her finger.

_Annie! Stop playing with your mouse and pay attention to what we're supposed to be doing! _Jack's voice invaded her mind like a knife. She let Penny go into the air and turned to Jack, who was standing by a gold pedestal in the center of the room. A book was sitting open to a page with a picture of San Francisco.

"Which book is it this time?" Annie preferred talking to telepathy. But Jack enjoyed talking to her in his thoughts more than in spoken words. As if to prove her point he invaded her mind once more.

_It's a history book from 1906 in San Francisco_, he told her. Annie stepped up to the pedestal and closed her eyes.

_I wish we could go there, _she thought. Her vision blurred like someone was stretching her vision to the right. The world flickered and then everything went black. Annie's vision came back in a second, along with the smell of freshly baked bread and sweet spring air of San Francisco. She groaned as she looked down at herself. She had on a blue and white dress, white tights, and black leather boots. She reached up and felt her hair, which was now wavy and plain blonde. Jack was dressed in unattractive brown pants and a crisp white shirt, tie included, which was covered by a brown vest and a brown jacket. He had an old style floppy black hat on his head, and his backpack had turned into a leather bag. His contact lenses had become horn rimmed glasses and he also had black leather boots, though sturdier built than her's.

"Oh, man!" Annie groaned. "Did we absolutely have to come back to a time where floppy hats and dresses were in style?" Jack adjusted his hat and turned to her.

"My outfit is actually pretty comfy."

"And that, dear brother, proves exactly how dorky you are." Annie started down the almost deserted street, and Jack hurried after her.

The smell of fresh bread was wafting out of a nearby bakery, and Annie made her way towards it. The little bell above the door jingled as they pushed the door open. Inside there were cakes, pies, bread and rolls sitting on display on the counter. Annie inhaled the sweet smell of warm bread. She scampered towards the counter and started talking to the man there in the way that she knew adults couldn't help but love. The man smiled and retreated into the back room where the ovens were. She gestured to Jack and he quickly walked towards her.

"What is it?" he asked her. The man came out of the back room holding a hot new loaf of bread. She put on her most hopeful look.

"But…" she tried to sound like she was just a poor young girl.

"Yes?" he said kindly.

"We don't have any money."

"Here. Take it anyway. I don't know what better cause than to give it to a young girl and her brother." He handed her the loaf and she thanked him, ushering Jack out.

"Why did you do that?" Jack asked.

"Because I'm hungry." Annie ripped a piece from the bread and stuffed in her mouth. It was good bread, still warm from the ovens and crunchy on the outside, but soft and spongy on the inside.

"Give me that!" Jack snatched the bread from her and stuffed a piece in his own mouth. Annie glanced at her watch.

"It's 5:12 AM." Jack frowned and pulled a book from his bag. He started flipping through it, and then his face paled as he read the words on the page.

"Annie. What date is it?" he said the words slowly, as if he was trying to keep calm.

"The 18th of April. Why?" Jack's face went white and he started saying something.

"Annie! The earthquake-" He was interrupted by a loud rumbling. Annie went pale.

"Jack? What was that?" As if in answer, the ground started shaking. The bell of a nearby church swayed and clanged. The shingles started coming off nearby houses, and chimneys started crumbling. Bricks started coming off houses, and Jack, Annie, and everyone else on the street lost their balance and fell onto the ground. Annie groaned as she smacked the ground with a thud. Then, as suddenly as it had started, it stopped. The ground was still, and it was quiet. Annie pulled herself to her feet, and watched Jack do the same. Just then, the ground erupted in noise once more, shaking more violently than before. The earth under the street split and the street bricks fell into the crevice. Annie was frozen, watching the crack coming closer and closer. She snapped her head to the side at the sound of something nearby collapsing. She saw Jack crumple under a mound of bricks before the ground caved in beneath her and she fell into the abyss. She felt something hard smack her in the head, then everything went black. When Annie woke up, she wasn't sure where she was. Then she felt the side of her head stinging and groaned as she felt her it. Annie remembered where she was. In a pit dug by the famous 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Then she remembered she wasn't here alone. Annie pushed the bricks aside and sat up. Light was pouring in through the top of the crevice and Annie reached at the top of the crack, but it was in vain. She was too short. Annie winced as she felt the painful scratches on her arms, and brushed brick dust off her clothes. Wait… brick dust! Annie looked around her. Bricks were dumped in piles around her. She took brick after brick, stacking them up enough for her to reach the top of the hole. She pulled herself out, then ran over to the pile of housing that she knew Jack was buried in. Annie dug though the bricks, but it was no use. Jack wasn't there.

Oh, Jack. Where are you?she asked herself. Annie frowned as she felt a pulse from her head. She put her hand on her head. Wait. That isn't coming from my _head_. It's coming from my _mind_.She had felt the pressure on her mind before. Jack had wanted to get into her head, but she had resisted letting him in. Annie let the mind into hers.

_Annie! Why were you blocking me? I _was _trying to help you find me! _Annie grinned as she heard Jack's voice in her head.

_Where are you? _she asked him.

_In the pile of bricks. Where else? _

_No, but which side? _she rolled her eyes.

_How should I know? It's dark in here. _

_Jack! _Annie thought, irritated.

_Just look through it! I want to get out of here. Do you know how heavy bricks are? _Annie ignored the last comment and started digging through the rubble. She soon came upon the corner of a leather bag, and eagerly started pulling away bricks from the pile. Jack groaned as the last brick was pulled off him, and Annie pulled him to his feet.

"Thanks," he told her, frowning as he saw the tear in his pants. The ground started shaking again and Annie braced herself. But this time, as soon as it had started, it stopped.

"Aftershock." Jack brushed brick dust off his pants.

"Jack…" Annie sounded nervous. He frowned. Annie didn't normally sound so shaky.

"What?"

"Look!" she pointed to a thin trail of smoke trailing upwards. "Smoke."

Jack reached into his bag and franticly flipped through the pages. He lurched to a stop and flipped back several pages.

**Just after the earthquake, a fire, known**

**as **_**The Ham and Eggs **_**fire **, **started and **

**burned the city down. Over 28,000 buildings**

**were destroyed. The fires raged for three **

**days, destroying almost all the city. **

"Wow. That's pretty bad," Annie said, her face solemn.

"I know, and considering that we're here…" he trailed off. Annie's eyes grew wide.

She started hyperventilating, and Jack reached out to her. She looked wildly around her, like a cornered animal trying to escape. Some bullies at school said there was something wrong with her brain, but in reality, she was just having a panic attack. Annie blinked as everything went from fast to slow motion. Everything was soft, and quiet. The edges of her vision were blurred and in slow motion. It was like a dream, soft and calm, but scary at the same time. The only way to describe talking, was quiet and soft. They seemed like they had soft rounded edges, and they echoed eerily.

"Annie. Calm down," Jack's voice seemed to be in slow motion. His hands reached out and shook her by the shoulders.

"Annie!" Annie snapped back to reality.

"Sorry."

"That's fine," Jack replied. "Let's see what's going on around the city."


End file.
